Congress: A river run dry?

Sometimes, mighty rivers die unspectacularly as they run out of water on some dusty dune. A lot of attention has been focused on that dusty dune, which apparently goes by the name of Rahul Gandhi, but perhaps we should focus a little more on why the venerable party has run out of water. It was amply clear during the last elections that the party, apart from having no leaders that could remotely match the drawing power of Narendra Modi, had no story to tell. Its election pitch was a tired combination of old slogans about the poor and new fantasies about the young, and it was evident that few believed it, least of all people within the party.

It is true that in its long and eventful lifespan, the party has faced many reverses and has always found its way back to power. It is also true that at a time like this, it is very easy to think of everything being wrong with the party, and that perhaps a longer-term perspective would be useful in placing the current rout in context. But it is precisely this long-term perspective that throws up the more worrying prognosis. For it reveals more fundamental structural issues that are difficult to address even if the intent to change things were present. As it turns out, if recent pronouncements and actions of the party leadership give any clue, it is that the party is huddling into a small foetal ball of cluelessness, where comfort lies.

The central question facing the party is not whether its dynastic leadership needs change, but as to why it should at all exist anymore. It is easy to answer the question about the need for the Congress in systemic terms- the country needs a strong opposition at the national level, and it needs an alternative imagination is rooted in the ideas of justice and equity. While it may be clear as to why the country needs a party like the Congress in terms of its overall shape and form, it is far from clear as to what the party has to offer to the ordinary voter by way of a driving idea that it is geared to deliver to.

The founding ideas of the party have become desultory slogans and the political culture it has fostered is a cynical one based on buildings pockets of patronage. It is as if India’s premier political party has lost faith in politics. It thinks of vote-catching as a pursuit that is separate from the act of administering the country, and it has converted this belief into a political structure by keeping the real leadership of the party out of government and installing a respectable figurehead as Prime Minister. The biggest problem with the outgoing regime is that it displayed little sense of purpose, either administratively or politically; it derived meaning from being stagnant rather than being in motion, of distributing largesse rather than moving anywhere purposefully. Politically too it has seen its role as keeping the forces of communalism at bay- which apparently translates into standing still and looking secular.

Even now, the party has no ideas about how to connect with the voter of today. It is remarkable how a right wing party under the leadership of someone widely regarded as being divisive has managed to unify the electorate much more than the Congress has in recent times. A lot of this has to do with the inability of the Congress to offer a vision of tomorrow that is as compelling as the one offered by Modi. This is because not only does it not have such a vision, but that it has stopped believing in the necessity of such a vision. This column had previously argued that the key to Modi’s success was a demonstration of intention- of a fierce desire to lead, not merely for the sake of power but using it to some transformative effect. One could disagree with the man, but one thing seems certain— a Narendra Modi government is unlikely to be accused of listless inaction.

This is where the dynastic leadership becomes an issue. For the Nehru-Gandhi family, leadership is worn like a somewhat burdensome legacy. Here the power is a given, it is the attendant responsibility that is optional. Which is why all its reference points are internal. That Rahul Gandhi did not step up and assume a role in the two governments has little to do with anything else but his own compulsions. That he can barge in as and when he likes and publicly overturn his PM’s decision, and do so without any larger plan is because he felt like doing so. That a Priyanka Gandhi can assume the national stage while restricting her campaign to two constituencies purely because that is her call. That no one can challenge or ask any real questions about what went wrong because that would be treason.

The Congress needs a new idea that speaks to today’s India. This will draw from its background and its often glorious past, but it will need to be imagined anew. It cannot be a retreat into the comfortable but needs to be a bold foray into the unfamiliar. It will also need a leadership that believes in politics and governance as an instrument of change and that craves for an opportunity to run things. Realistically speaking, the Congress cannot in the short term do without the dynasty. The entire party is propped up by its presumptive leadership. What it really needs is for the family to lead the process of finding its own successors. It had an opportunity in 2004 and 2009 and it blew it; at best it has one more opportunity. Without a fresh source of water, the party will dry up. This time around, chances are, there will be no comeback.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Comments on this post are closed now

Be the first one to review.

Author

Santosh Desai is a leading ad professional. He says he has strayed into writing entirely by accident, and for this he is "grateful". "City City Bang Bang" looks at contemporary Indian society from an everyday vantage point. It covers issues big and small, tends where possible to avoid judgmental positions, and tries instead to understand what makes things the way they are. The desire to look at things with innocent doubt helps in the emergence of fresh perspectives and hopefully, of clarity of a new kind.

Santosh Desai is a leading ad professional. He says he has strayed into writing entirely by accident, and for this he is "grateful". "City City Bang Bang" l. . .